The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful criticism Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. Books that earned the Kirkus Star with publication dates between November 1, 2014, and October 31, 2015 (see FAQ for exceptions), are automatically nominated for the 2015 Kirkus Prize, and the winners will be selected on October 15, 2015, by an esteemed panel composed of nationally respected writers and highly regarded booksellers, librarians and Kirkus critics.

"It also takes a few unnecessary sideways steps, like Bray's trip into the remote countryside to visit a grieving friend, but overall, it's an entertaining read, and the characters are lively and interesting."

A wild young lord is maneuvered into making a vow to marry the sister of a dying comrade, but the lady refuses to cooperate.
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When Clio Whitmore inherits a castle from her uncle, she decides to call off her long-standing engagement and asks her would-be brother-in-law—who's secretly in love with her—to help her get out of the marriage agreement.
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"Though not perfect, this is a layered and well-told story with an unlikely and endearing heroine. (Paranormal romance. 13 & up)"

With her boyfriend spending all of his time with his once-estranged uncle, 17-year-old Katy Ainsworth flees to Paris for cooking school and an adventure of her own. Little does she know that a summer abroad will nearly cost her her life.
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A life-altering vacation leaves Miki Durand practically running her father's international conglomerate and sharing a passionate encounter with a French billionaire, forcing her to re-evaluate her mapped-out life.
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After she's spent the last decade incognito, posing as the most enigmatic (male) casino owner in England, a ruined lady re-enters society to secure her daughter's rightful place in the beau monde, attracting suitors, enemies and the attention of a handsome newspaper magnate.
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"A runaway train of a plot, in which our heroine suffers four marriages, two pregnancies, three tragic deaths and too many coincidences in a two-year span to be believable, yet the narrative has a certain cheeky, boundless energy that propels the reader to a gratifying conclusion."

Set in 1930s China, Yip's latest intrigue follows a runaway "ghost wife" as she finds a place in the world amid imperial loyalists and the rumblings of revolution.
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In a novel from prolific author Fobes (Touch Not the Cat, 2012, etc.), a helicopter pilot back from Afghanistan reunites with a former love in a hometown controlled by the Russian mob.
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"Though the book's four-protagonist, four-author concept keeps the book feeling fresh, each section suffers from repetitive word choices (if we never read the term 'deepen the kiss' again, it will be too soon) and sometimes-rote plotlines that lean too heavily on gender stereotypes."

Four female college juniors share a house—and newly dramatic love lives—in this new-adult romance written by four separate authors in four distinct sections that focus on each woman's love story.
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No one would accuse V. I. Warshawski of backing down from a fight, but there are a few she’d be happy to avoid. High on that list is tangling with Chicago political bosses. Yet that’s precisely what she ends up doing when she responds to Frank Guzzo’s plea for help in Brush Back, the latest thriller from bestselling author Sara Paretsky. For six stormy weeks back in high school, V.I. thought she was in love with Frank. He broke up with her, she went off to college, he started driving trucks for Bagby Haulage. She forgot about him until the day his mother was convicted of bludgeoning his kid sister, Annie, to death. Stella Guzzo was an angry, uncooperative prisoner and did a full 25 years for her daughter’s murder. Newly released from prison, Stella is looking for exoneration, so Frank asks V.I. for help. “Paretsky, who plots more conscientiously than anyone else in the field, digs deep, then deeper, into past and present until all is revealed,” our reviewer writes.
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FEATURED FICTION AUTHOR

When J. Ryan Stradal set out to write the book he wanted to read, he didn’t consider his current home for its setting. Instead, he took a hiatus from his job as an L.A.-based supervising producer on shows like Storage Wars and Deadliest Catch to revisit the communities ...

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